Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Two books from June 25, 2014. Plus Your Nerd Confessions (about your favorite comics set in space) and a brief moment of Regression Therapy.

Show Notes:

After last week’s navel gazing, we’re turning our eyes upward and outward to ponder the vastness of space and the opportunities that present themselves beyond the limits of this rock we all call home. Do the trials and tribulations of Earth translate to space or is space crime more exciting because it’s in space? And what makes someone decide to go to space in the first place? Earth may be full of issues, but at least they’re usually pretty manageable. Space is so vast and unpredictable, as we’ll see. Plus, in space, no one can hear you scream.

"It's a trap."

"You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

Nick is the artist and co-creator of the Eisner-nominated series The Manhattan Projects, published by Image Comics. He previously collaborated with his co-creator Jonathan Hickman on The Red Wing, also published by Image.

It's a long interview, and we kept the pre- and post-conversation in the show. Otherwise you would have missed a sweet discussion about kale. And also comics. And Skype. And drawing. Yeaahhh. It's a loooong interview. You're welcome.

Two books from June 18, 2014. Plus Your Nerd Confessions (about which characters would benefit most from therapy or counseling) and a new segment, Regression Therapy.

Show Notes:

This week's theme is internal demons, specifically in the form of mental illness. There’s such a stigma in our culture when it comes to talking about this kind of stuff, and even more so when it comes to admitting it’s something you have dealt with personally. Comics - and movies, books, television, art in general - give us a chance to be honest under the guise of storytelling. Something happens, though, when that raw truth is recognizable and relatable under the fictional glaze. It’s beautiful and scary and awesome. Comics, man. Good job this week making us think.

The story of the way a young boy deals with his fractured, abusive home life. How he uses fantasy to escape his tragic reality. And how this vivid disassociation itself could be the symptom of something far more insidious going on inside his head. This isn’t a superhero story in the traditional sense at all, and that’s what makes its character journeys so incredible.

A much more complete view of Jon than we’ve ever seen before. He’s struggling. He’s impulsive. He’s intense. He’s detaching from his own contrived reality. He needs help, because he can’t help himself. This issue is Jon’s story of the consequences of his own slippage and one possible attempt at a reset. He’s on meds, so there may not be any more impulsivity issues - bad or good - but there are also no more feelings. Everything is just fine. Until it isn’t.

Jen has contributed to Adventure Time and Princeless, and is part of the team doing Cartozia Tales, the all-ages anthology. Her book Avery Fatbottom: Renaissance Fair Detective - decidedly not all-ages - is published by Monkeybrain Comics. Jen also works in marketing and communications for Fantagraphics and you may have seen her in Cartoon College, the documentary film about the Center for Cartoon Studies where she did her graduate work.

Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Two comics from June 11, 2014. Plus your Nerd Confessions (about your favorite time meeting a creator in real life).

Show Notes:

This week’s theme is you ain’t who you say you are. You know that terrible feeling when you discover waaay late in the game that someone you really thought you knew is in fact totally different in every way? It never works in the positive direction, either. It’s not like suddenly they turn awesome after being a giant asshole. Noooooo. It’s totally like after years and years of trusting you really know someone BOOM! You wake up and realize it was all a lie. We’re looking at two comics that touch on that big reveal, that big realization that there’s a whole lot more - or less - going on under the surface than you expected. Could be robots. Could be secrets. Murder. Mayhem. Mystery. Could be the comic itself is completely not what you expected. Really, it’s fine.

Two cops. One is a robot. They don't know which one. Hijinks ensue. In the comic and on the show.

Another Marvel event with cosmic implications. And advertisements. And mansplaining. Not a lot of secrets, though. Weird.

Over his 35 year career, Mr. DeMatteis has written lengthy runs on Captain America and Spider-Man for Marvel, including the critically acclaimed ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt’ storyline. He’s written countless Justice League stories for DC over the years, winning the Eisner in 2004 for the mini-series Formerly Known As The Justice League with Keith Giffen and Kevin MacGuire. His graphic novels Mercy and Moonshadow among others helped launch the DC imprint Vertigo in the 90s. He’s written all-ages comics and prose, like Abadazad and the novel Imaginalis, as well as episodes of Teen Titans Go!, Ben 10 and other animated shows. He is currently writing Justice League 3000 and Justice League Dark for DC Comics.

Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Show Notes:

This week we’re talking about the classic threat that has peppered
speculative fiction for centuries - alien invasion. It’s a theme that
we’ve touched on before, but so has virtually every civilization since
the dawn of time. We’re discussing Earth under attack long after the
demise of humans, leaving our successors to defend their lives and our
legacy, and we’re taking a look at what might happen when the aliens
themselves have home field advantage, and your only defense is a field
hockey stick and some theater props. Also, that totally makes the humans
the aliens, right? Mind blown. Pssshhhhhh.

Transported to an alien world, the students of Bay Point Prep fight teachers, creatures and each other to survive. Dun dun DUH.

Bonus: Andrea hates The Giver. Aaron is crushed. Comics, what?

You may know Jeremy from his Multiversity column Strange Love or his books Southern Dog and Cobble Hill, both originally published by 215Ink. Southern Dog
will be published by Action Lab Entertainment beginning in August. He
is currently writing two books published by MonkeyBrain Comics, Art Monster and Skinned, the latter co-written by Tim Daniel.